10 entries categorized "News Roundups"

June 6, 2013

In addition to the Allen Street School, controversial developer T. Eric Galloway is said to be closing in on a deal for at least one other Eleanor Ambos property in Hudson: the vast Pocketbook Factory. Ambos also owns the former Elks Club (the large Italianate building at Union and 6th, which used to have a bowling alley in the basement). There is some indication that she is liquidating her local holdings.

Title insurer Jim Monahan told this site today that contrary to some reports, the title work he has done for the City of Hudson was performed at no charge;and that until very late in the process he was never asked to answer questions about the Standard Oil site. Rather, Monahan says that his brief from the City was relatively narrow, and that he had been unaware of debates taking place at meetings and online over the status of the Standard Oil site until his pro bono work came under fire. He added that in conversation with Crawford & Associates, he was told that they had “not even started” their environmental review of the proposed acreage; and that he does not have an opinion at this point on the ownership of the 4.4 acres identified by The Valley Alliance as likely being owned by the City of Hudson, rather than by Holcim.

Work on Food Studio, a new Asian-influenced restaurant in the 600 block, continues steadily, with hopes of a summer opening.

Four properties owned by artist David Deutsch, who at one point was contemplating an ambitious northside redevelopment plan with architect Teddy Cruz, hit the MLS recently. These include the former Nicole Fiacco gallery (once the VFW), the cinderblock across from the Opera House (formerly Mark McDonald’s 330 gallery, and before that Harold’s Lounge), and the two empty lots between them, which look like one lot. The asking price for all four is $1.6 million.

October 12, 2012

It’s been a light week for posting here, due to other obligations, and also the fact that I don’t like to post just for the sake of posting... That said, here are a few regional tidbits worth reporting:

Chef/author Zak Pelaccio’s much-anticipated upstate restaurant with Jori Jayne Emde on South 3rd Street in Hudson reportedly will be called Fish & Game, with renovations continuing at a fever pace in hopes of opening this winter.

HUMP, a/k/a the Hudson Museum of Photography, opens this Saturday with a solo show by Stephen Johnson entitled Moonman. HUMP is located at 552 Warren Street.

After a hiatus following the death of Don Blasko, his wife Mady has reopened the Turnpike Inn.

In other Town of Ghent drinking news, longtime Kozel’s bartender Ned has stepped down to enjoy some well-deserved leisuretime after many years of solid service. It’s rare to find a real oldschool barkeep of Ned’s caliber around here.

Laetitia Hussain’s recent three-story installation at John Davis Gallery, Sycamorphology has sold and is said to be headed to a publicly-accessible space in New York City.

According to several sources the Laskin family is no longer involved with the operation of TCI of NY, the PCB waste company David Laskin moved to Ghent from Newburgh after a fire there in the 1980s. It thus presumably was just a coincidence that (as several other sources have pointed out) the 165-acre Laskin family compound in Old Chatham went on the market for $3,200,000 on August 3rd—just two days after the most recent and most catastrophic TCI fire.

Also regarding TCI, Albany TV stations and other print outlets are reporting that the August 1st fire has been cleared of any suspicion of arson by the New York State Police, though their official report on the cause of the fire is not complete. The August conflagration was TCI’s second fire of 2012, and occurred in the context of a series of other fires in the Route 9H corridor—one of which was affirmatively deemed an arson. (Since the time of this site’s post on that topic, residents have noted several additional fires on roads just slightly off 9H.)

It’s come to this site’s attention that several Hudson elected officials are unaware that the City has an adopted Comprehensive Plan, which can be downloaded in two parts via this link. The plan straddled the Cranna and Scalera administrations, being developed in 2000-2001 and passed in 2002. Due to the then-raging St. Lawrence Cement controversy, and the City’s decision to hire SLC’s own planning firm as its consultant, the final plan was greatly watered down, but it does include a few useful nuggets; more on that next week, probably.

This Sunday will feature the last farmer’s market of the season in Philmont, according to Sally Baker of PB, Inc. The market’s hours are 10 am to 1 pm.

July 17, 2012

Café on the Hudson, which briefly graced Riverview Street in Stuyvesant with organic, locally-sourced meals (the buckwheat pancakes were a real treat) appears not to be reopening after what was expected to be a Winter hiatus; for rent signs are in the windows.

Dana Wegener, the proprietor of MOD Restaurant who was unceremoniously locked out of her own Front Street establishment earlier this summer, is said to be reopening as a breakfast/lunch spot in the former Strongtree location, across from the Amtrak station in Hudson.

The Chai Shopin the 400 block (across from Swallow and upstreet from Spotty Dog) is going to start serving Indian dinners starting July 21st, though on Friday and Saturday nights only for starters.

Crimson Sparrow’s Sunday brunch is a great way for those wanting to try out the chefs’ ambitious cooking (and equally novel interior renovations in Hudson’s 700 block to do so without making a major investment. Their flat $16 brunch menu allows you to choose four items from a list of a dozenoptions, from waffles to fried green tomatoes.

The former Richter’s building in the 500 block (for decades a local source of tube socks and jumpsuits) has reportedly sold to Kinderhook’s John Knott, who is said to be planning a different sort of men’s shop there—likely to carry more Brooks Brothers-y haberdashery than FUBU sweatshirts.

Dan Gibson, proprietor of Grazin’ Angus Acres in Ghent and the Grazin’ diner in Hudson, has taken over Milk Thistle Farm’s former dairy operations whichsadly closed last winter.

Renovations at the former Fabrications and Mix locations (in Hudson’s 400 and 500 block, respectively) seem to be going slowly, with paper still up in the windows of each. Work on the former Verdigris location on 3rd Street, where NYC restaurateur Zak Peliccio is aiming to extend his Fatty Crab/Fatty ’Cue empire, looks to be actively progressing. Also in the renovations department, work is likewise moving along on former Etsy honcho Rob Kalin’s North Front Street warehouse, the future home of his new Parachutes venture, though it’s likely to take a while given the size and condition of the building.

TOAD, which has moved its mountain of tie-dyed tees and headshop paraphernalia around Warren Street probably a half-dozen times in the past 15 years, has lost its most recent location in the 700 block due to the sale of the building... No doubt it will reëmerge from under some other lilypad in town.

June 7, 2012

The Crimson Sparrow, a much-anticipated bar/restaurant from Benjamin Freemole and John McCarthy—two vetarans of wd-50’s “molecular gastronomy” kitchen in Manhattan—is expected to open in the 800 block of Warren Street on June 20th. Lots of preview pictures can be found on their Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Steve Walsh’s Brazilian food cart is on the move again, this time to the sidewalk adjoining the ice cream haven Lick in the 200 block (on Sundays) and outside Spotty Dog (on Friday and Saturday nights).

March 12, 2012

It was unusually sad to hear from friends last month of the passing of Donald Blasko, the legendary co-proprietor since the 1970s of The Turnpike Inn. The last time I saw Don (while picking up one of Mady Blasko’s excellent pizzas), he seemed in poor health but great spirits—doing a spirited shuffle behind the bar to some tune he was humming. Now there was a life well-spent.

Historical Materialism, which began many years ago on Crosby Street in Soho and has graced the corner of 6th and Warren in Hudson for roughly a decade now, is moving on—and Regan & Smith are said to be moving in, from across the street. Hudson really will miss what (I suspect) is the only antiques store in recorded history to be named after after a Marxist concept.

In another switch, Mix has completed its move out of Hudson’s 400 block. A sign in the window cryptically announces “Coming Soon—George!” Is President Bush getting into the furniture business, or Ihlenburg Plumbing opening a storefront office?

Two friends and I had a truly well-balanced supper the other night at Crossroads Food Shop in Hillsdale, which appears to be hitting its stride. Big hits were the parsnip soup, a hake and clam stew, a leek-mushroom-endive quinoa, and three spoons for the panacotta dessert. The cooking was smart but understated, sophisticated without getting flashy, with attentive but not smothering service.

An observer reports that former chair Tom Swope appeared before Hudson’s Historic Preservation Commission recently as an applicant, in his new capacity representing developer Eric Galloway... but left in something of a snit when informed that the photographs he’d brought regarding a change to a roof were inadequate for a decision to be rendered. (He’ll be back.) The Commission is also looking for a new preservation architect to fill its ranks.

When last I checked, the City still had not submitted its Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP) to the State for approval—despite being passed by the Common Council last October amid great controversy. It’s not known exactly why, but the State presumably would want to see the land deals with Holcim finanalized before reviewing a hypothetical plan. Or it could have something to do with this.

Lonely Planet named the Hudson River Valley as its #2 U.S. travel destination for 2012, writing that our “leafy drives, wineries and plenty of farm-to-table foodie options [...] draw even spoiled-for-choice Manhattanites away from the city.”

January 6, 2012

Carole Osterink is back on the scent of Hudson news at The Gossips of Rivertown after a month-long medical hiatus.

Will Pflaum has published a potentially explosive report at Sunshine on the Hudson, in which he alleges fraudulent billing by a County and municipal attorney, as well as a pattern of sketchy billing by a host of other County legal advisors... (For more on the role of small-town attorneys in local politics, see my piece from last summer on Legislation By Lawyer.)

Following on last year’s opening of Grazin’ in Hudson, another farm-to-table restaurant is set to open in Columbia County in 2012—the Crossroads Food Shop in Hillsdale. (Check out this 1998New York Times review of what chef David Wurth managed with the lowly pumpkin at Savoy, a 1990s Soho favorite.) You can sign up to get an announcement of the top-secret opening date here.

August 22, 2011

For your Monday morning, here’s an applecartload of local bits, pieces, odds, ends, fact, rumor and surmise... (I probably could get way more hits by doling these out one-by-one over the next two weeks instead, but why tease?)

• In other food-and-hospitality news, the Fillis recently opened a spacious lounge/seating area in the back of their Claverack market to complement their growing pizza business (but I’ll be taking advantage of it mostly for morning coffee);

• Meanwhile, Café Le Perche in the 200 block of Hudson has obtained its liquor license, and will start to stay open until 8 pm weekdays, 10 pm or later on weekends (and is looking for some good evening help);

• Back in Claverack, the Won Dharma meditation/retreat center is holding an open house on September 4th from 3:30-5:30 pm for local residents (and curiosity-seekers);

• Over to Chatham... Former Charleston owner/chef Carole Clark will have an opening of her new “totems and vessels” at Solaqua on August 27th from 1-5 pm (in a raw industrial space which she says most will love, but some will find alarming);

• The Sunday Farmer’s Market in Philmont is a hidden gem which will remain open through mid-October (hidden, at least, if you don’t normally pass through Philmont on a Sunday morning);

• A fourth Bourne sequel, The Bourne Legacy, is said to be coming to shoot scenes in Columbia County, allegedly in “an old mansion close to Hudson” (but it may not star Matt Damon, so don’t rush off to look for him eating pastry on Warren Street);

• Work has resumed on the old Schroeder's site on Green Street (evidently to make way for yet another beer store);

• Tuesday is the deadline for independent nominating petitions for candidates running on their own lines (and it will be telling whether Linda Mussmann actually files Bottom Line petitions for Mayor, as was done for Geeta Cheddie and John Musall last week);

• The only two Hallenbeck for Mayor signs spotted thus far are on (A) the candidate's own house and (B) an old car parked in front of a defunct store on Fairview Avenue... in Greenport;

• Peter Jung’s Gifford’s Grave project to restore the family gravesite of one of the Hudson River School’s leading lights, is now complete (but will wait to hold a celebratory ceremony in 2012);

• More photos of the Hudson Merchant House can be found at Laura Murphy’s SmugMug site, (which also features some fun pics of starlings and pigeons bathing in a large puddle on the roof of her 600 block building);

• Some ATMs in Hudson reportedly ran out of cash during the weekend of the NADA art fair at the Basilica Hudson (but as best as anyone can tell, most of it went to food, not art).

May 3, 2010

GHENT » The “European-style Heavy Metal Fest” which was slated for Meadowgreens has been moved northwest of Schenectady to Pattersonville “due to unforeseen issue's [sic] at the Meadow Greens [sic],” according to the promoter’s impressively ugly website.

HUDSON VALLEY » According to this wire report in the Kingston Daily Freeman, home sales jumped in the first quarter of this year compared to 2009: “by 54.3 percent in Greene County, by 43.7 percent in Ulster County, by 42.9 percent in Columbia County, and by 8.8 percent in Dutchess County.”

HUDSON RIVER » General Electric says that Phase 1 of its EPA-ordered dredging projected cost $561 million (or about 3.6% their gross annual revenue). Poor things.

April 1, 2010

BEACON » Apparently it’s possible to rent out space for private parties at some New York State prisons. (Lady Gaga, call your office.) Just don’t let a knife fight break out, as described in this Washington Post article.

HUDSON » Catskill resident and NYC party planner Andy King is planning to open a nautical-themed bistro (with several hotel rooms for rent upstairs) in the former Moxie’s building on South Front and Union streets.

PITTSFIELD » Baba Louie’s, the organic pizza company with restaurants in Great Barrington and Hudson, is opening a third location on Depot Street, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

NYACK » The upcoming documentary film Megamall, which chronicles a battle over the troubled Palisades Center mall project, features Columbia County resident and author Roberta Brandes Gratz and Saratoga-based pundit James Howard (Jim) Kunstler as talking heads.

MANHATTAN » Gratz, best known to Hudsonites for her book Cities Back from the Edgewhich she co-authored with Claverack’s Norman Mintz, has a new book out this Spring about Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, entitled The Battle for Gotham. She argues that the late ’60s decline of Robert Moses, coupled with “the drying up of big government funding for urban renewal projects allowed New York to organically regenerate according to the precepts defined by Jane Jacobs.”

EAST FISHKILL » The Associated Press reports that “a woman dressed as the Easter Bunny to promote a Hudson Valley candy shop was slammed to the ground by a man who then ran away.”

PALINVILLE » Plans to restore the Pine Grove House resort “to its former glory” were met with skepticism from the local planning board, says the Catskill Daily Mail.

SALISBURY » The Litchfield County Times fleshes out some details of the reported theft of a $200,000 antiques collection from a Kent home (formerly stored in Hudson), including “Dolce & Gabbana dresses, Azzedine Alaia jackets, Gucci pants and antique Venetian glasses from the 1880s.”